Proyecto Buena Semilla (The Good Seed Project) is an organization that through entrepreneurial activities, problem-based therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and art-based activities results in the empowerment of women within the Mayan communities in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. The women participants of the organization learn to face the hardships of child pregnancy, domestic violence, and other restrictions to their economic participation given the marginalized conditions of their communities.

In their second year of funding by the Martín-Baró Fund, PBS was able to compensate eight health facilitators throughout the year in order to form the “Leadership of Women Circle” in the community of Quetzaltenango. Through workshops and group meetings, the organization was able to create a safe space where vulnerable indigenous women were able to empower themselves and therefore cause an improvement in their mental health, wellbeing, and become agents of change within their family and communities. The monthly workshops were able to reinforce the women’s leadership skills and knowledge in mental and maternal health and child health. 

In their third and final year of funding, PBS plans to continue to support the “Women’s Circle” held in the communities of Cuilco and Quetzaltenango as well as the “Circle Leaders” held in San Juan Ostuncalco, Quetzaltenango. The meetings, workshops, and activities that will be held within both groups will be dedicated to continuing to address the mental health and wellbeing of marginalized women in communities in Guatemala.